I'd Go, I'd Go, Somewhere With You
by RoseFleur
Summary: New York's Rachel Berry doesn't know anyone when she moves to Lima, Ohio... except a familiar looking Mohawked boy.


**A/N: still yet to own glee. buzzing for the new season though! **

**Pretty much AU, only the fact that Rachel is not from Lima, and she knows no-one there, or so she thinks...**

**Puckleberry, Fuinn, Fincheltana friendship :) **

**I can't really think of much to say, except please read & review, cos you know I love them & without further ado... **

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><p>Rachel Berry had spent her whole life in New York, a city of bright lights and skyscrapers. So when her fathers had approached her and told her they were all moving to Ohio the change was a shock for her. There was less traffic and noise in Ohio and her beautiful Broadway had been left behind. But one thing she knew for sure was that she'd be back in New York one day, in a matter of months even. She would only have to spend a mediocre Senior year in Lima, Ohio before returning to her beloved city and starting her professional training to be a star.<p>

But Rachel Berry was never fazed by anything, least of all a new environment, new people and a new fan base. She exhaled confidently, arranged her cream sweater neatly over her body, hitched each cream knee sock up slightly and climbed the steps into William McKinley High School. It was a busy school with teachers and pupils roaming the corridors, speaking loudly and exchanging conversation and joy throughout. It was only a small community, where everyone knew everyone, so of course she instantly stuck out like a sore thumb. A petite girl, Rachel found it difficult to navigate amongst the people without being jostled and knocked. She noted a sense of patriotism towards their school team, the McKinley High Titans and the Cheerio cheerleaders strutted down the corridors with a football jock on each arm, glancing at each other person with instant disdain.

As one particular blonde Cheerio made her way past Rachel, with a tall, lanky boy in Letterman jacket held tightly in her grasp, she knocked her books out of her hands laughing cruelly as she passed. Rachel sighed and reminded herself that not everyone was going to like her at first, not least a cheerleader who didn't understand her theatrical ways and New York style.

"Hey new girl!" cried the Cheerio, spinning around to glance at her. "Where you come from does everyone dress like a toddler or is it just the special ones like you?" She didn't wait for an answer but continued to sashay through the crowd, parting for her, followed by two cronies – a beautiful Latina and an ice blonde Caucasian girl. Her boyfriend – Rachel supposed – flashed her a hesitant half smile over his shoulder.

Rachel pushed her hair out of her eyes and picked her books up off the floor, rising above the mean girls comments and striving forward. It was then that something, or rather someone caught her eye at the end of the corridor. A tall, dark, familiar someone with a very memorable Mohawk.

"Noah Puckerman?" She called out both shocked and ecstatic to see him.

His head snapped towards her upon his name being cried and he noted the petite brunette pushing through the flock of people towards him.

"Rachel Berry?" His jaw dropped and he grinned, elatedly swooping her into his arms for a tight hug.

"I knew you lived in Ohio Noah, I just never expected to see you here! I can't believe this; it's so wonderful to see you again!" She buried her face in his shoulder babbling with her excitement.

"I know me too, but here you are! What're you doing here Rach?"

"My dad got a new job here, so I'm in Lima now!" She slithered out of his grip and stared up into his deep hazel eyes happily.

"Well Rach, I know you're into all that singing and shit,"

"Noah." She interjected, reprimanding him for his language as she had done so often before; it almost felt natural to him that she was here, in his school, chastising him for cursing.

"Yeah, yeah," He waved her off and ploughed on, "You should join our Glee Club! We're not too bad; we actually won Regionals last year."

"You're in Glee Club Noah? I thought you were all macho, macho, sports?" Rachel put her head on one side and eyed him curiously.

"Well since you _forced_ me" He pulled a face and she hit his arm, reprimanding him once more, knowing he loved every second of it "into that karaoke with you on our final night last summer, I caught the bug and joined. So did a few of my football guys and some Cheerios so we're big on numbers now. Well bigger. But we could always use an extra voice, especially one like yours." He nudged her in the arm playfully and she blushed at his compliment.

The bell rang and Rachel sighed, wishing it would just go away so she could spend forever here with Noah.

"I better go," She groaned, pulling out her timetable to see where she was meant to be. Puck quickly whipped it out her hand and said,

"I'll pick you up before lunch and we'll go to Glee Club together so I can introduce you to the team. Sound good?"

"Sounds excellent," Rachel breathed, gazing up at him.

"Good." He beamed back and hugged her once more, letting her beautiful, flowery scent wash over him. "It's so good to see you again Rach."

"You too," She murmured and moved off towards her class, clutching her books to her chest.

Puck watched her walk away, smiling to herself. There was something about that Rachel Berry; he'd known it from the start. He could have any Cheerio or cougar he wanted, but somehow every few nights or so his subconscious mind drifted to a pint sized Jewish princess who he thought he wouldn't see again, at least until the following summer, when their time together was short and precious. Now it seemed, all his dreams were coming true.

The bell rang once more and Puck noticed the corridors were almost empty. He slouched off towards his class figuring he could be a few minutes late. Considering he usually didn't turn up, this was an improvement. Yep, there was something about that Rachel Berry.

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"Guys," He said, gripping her hand tightly in his for reassurance, "I want you to meet Rachel Berry. She has the most beautiful voice I've ever heard and I think she'll be a real asset to our group."

Rachel faced the group and beamed her brightest show smile at them. Her heart sank a little as she noticed the Cheerios from earlier watching her, particularly when their ringleader piped up,

"Wait, Puck, you _know _that thing?" She curled her lip at Rachel, running a derisive look over her.

"Yes _Quinn_, I happen to know her very well."

Rachel flushed and stared at the floor, willing it to open her up and swallow her. She was well aware of just how well she and Noah knew each other. The Latina Cheerio looked over Rachel before announcing,

"She alright." To which her blonde companion nodded vigorously. The Latina stood up and held a hand out to Rachel, "I'm Santana, this is Brittany." She jerked her head at the ditsy blonde girl still nodding.

"Wait, wait, wait." A slim, fashionable boy stood up and said, "How can we let her in if we don't even know if she can sing? We're just going to go on Puck's word? How reliable is that?"

"I'll prove it." Rachel squeaked, finally speaking. She coughed and re-arranged her voice. "Noah, will you accompany me?"

"Noah?" Quinn wrinkled her nose and snorted. "Noah, will you accompany me?" She mimicked nastily.

"Shut up Quinn, we want to hear her sing." The boy said, whose name turned out to be Kurt.

Rachel breathed in deeply and began to sing her and Noah's much adored cover of '_Need You Now'. _

'_And I don't know how_

_I can do without_

_I just need you now_

_I just need you now_

_Oh baby, I need you now'_

Rachel and Puck finished, harmonizing on the final note, gazing at each other. From the corner of her eye Rachel saw Quinn making vomiting actions whilst the rest of the group met their performance with enthusiastic applause, including Rachel noted, Quinn's boyfriend.

"She's amazing!" cried the boyfriend, "Wasn't she amazing?" He turned to Quinn, clapping wildly.

"Shut up Finn!" Quinn roared, turning on him.

"Finn and Quinn?" asked Rachel, raising an eyebrow. "How kitsch." She commented shortly.

She took a seat between Santana and Puck and smiled gratefully at the group as the applause died down.

"How do you two know each other anyways?" asked a stunning Asian girl named Tina.

"We met on a Jewish Summer Camp, a couple of summers ago" beamed Rachel, "But we usually only get to see each other for about three weeks each summer, so it's a joy to get to be here with Noah now."

"So when was the last time you two saw each other?" questioned a curvy girl called Mercedes, who, Puck later told Rachel, could potentially 'out-diva' her.

Puck glanced over at Rachel and smiled, "The end of June."

She blushed heavily and turned away avoiding his gaze, remembering their last night together.

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"_Thank you to Miss Rachel Berry and Mr Noah Puckerman for ending tonight's proceedings with their usual finale! You two certainly have talent, that's for sure." _

_Puck bounced off the stage and helped Rachel down, holding her waist for a fraction longer than necessary. They greeted the other kids and blushed gratefully as they commended them on their wonderful rendition of '_Need You Now'_ before making their excuses and leaving the performance hall as a group of girls took to the stage to announce they would like to sing a Spice Girls song. _

_Puck led Rachel outside into the brisk night air where a few stray kids were sat in gaggles talking, laughing and relishing each other's company before they would have to say goodbye in the morning. She shivered slightly and Puck's immediate reaction was to throw the jacket he was carrying around her shoulders. She thanked him and slid her hand into his, smiling up at him slightly. _

_They walked around the building a few times, making small talk, neither of them wanting to say what they knew they would eventually. Finally, on their sixth trip round when they were safely away from any screaming girls, Rachel voiced their mutual thoughts._

"_I'm really going to miss you Noah."_

"_You say this every year Rach." _

"_I know." She muttered and shoved her hands in his jacket pockets. _

"_I'm really going to miss you too." _

_She glanced up at him in the moonlight and smiled half-heartedly. _

"_I wish we didn't have to say goodbye."_

"_Me neither. But after graduation, I promise I'm going to move to New York and then it'll be you and me."_

"_Really?"_

"_Yeah," He confirmed, smiling down at her. _

_She was seriously the most beautiful girl he'd ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on. And throughout the whole of camp, including the previous summers, he'd had plenty of girls throwing themselves at him, but he only had eyes for her. _

_They savoured the moment of silence before he leaned down and nudged his mouth to hers, pressing his lips against hers softly. She took her hands out of his pockets and wound her arms around his neck, kissing him back gently. _

_They remained that way for how long, neither knew, until their leaders called curfew and demanded they went to bed because they all had early flights the next day. They were simply cherishing their last few hours together until they were separated for at least another year. _

_And sure enough they gripped each other tightly the next day, saying a mournful goodbye. Puck wiped a tear from Rachel's cheek, promising he would see her soon and hugged her a final time. _

_Neither of them knew however, how soon that would be. _

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Rachel looked out of her window to see Noah's truck pulling up beside her house. She bounded down the stairs, eager to see him. It was so great that he had the ability to drive anywhere, whenever he wanted. Rachel hadn't learnt to drive in New York because the parking was such a nightmare, in the city she could just walk anywhere or use the subway. But here in Lima, there was so much more freedom to go wherever, whenever. He drove her out to a park and they walked around it as the sun set, circling and circling, just as they had the final night of camp.

"So now that you're here, in Lima," Puck stopped moving and turned to Rachel, "I was, er, I was wondering if maybe we could try the 'you and me' thing for real, instead of tiptoeing round it for three weeks a year?"

Rachel smiled up at him and nodded slowly.

"I'd really like that."

He gazed at her momentarily, savouring the moment, before leaning down and nudging his lips to hers. She breathed in and took him in wholly, kissing him back softly.

Maybe the move to Lima hadn't been such a bad thing after all, Rachel thought, massaging Noah's lips with her own, darting her tongue gently across his teeth.

He stroked her hair with his callused fingers and drew her body closer to him, radiating the heat between them.

Oh yes, Rachel pondered as she felt Noah's heart beat furiously against her chest, she was definitely glad to be in Lima.

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"So not only are you 'old friends' but you're also a couple?" asked Mercedes raising an eyebrow. "Bit sudden considering she only moved here a couple of weeks ago."

"Well not really," countered Puck, putting his head on one side "Because this has had three years building up to it." He smiled to himself and caught Rachel's eye, who beamed back happily.

"Gross," Quinn commented, rolling her eyes and refusing to look at the pair who took seats in the front row, gripping the other's hand tightly.

"I think it's sweet."

The whole group turned and looked at Santana dumbstruck.

"What?" She asked, shrugging nonchalantly. "I can't have opinions now?"

"No Satan, you just normally have bad ones." Kurt pointed out, "Remember that time you told me my clothes were 'awful' and you were the one wearing dungarees."

"Whatever," Santana said with a pointed look in Kurt's direction, "I still think it's cute. Puckzilla deserves some of that happiness I've heard people talk about. I mean, I've never experienced it myself, but if there's hope for Puckasaurus, maybe the cold hearted bitch inside me might find love."

"Wow Santana, that was actually really nice of you." Puck grinned over at her, to which she replied, smirking,

"It has been known to happen."

"Hold up a second," Rachel interjected. "What on earth is Puckzilla?"

"S'my nickname babe," Puck answered, turning to grin at her instead.

She raised one eyebrow. "It sounds like some sort of monster. The Noah I know is nothing like that…" She frowned momentarily.

"Maybe you don't know the real Puck then, man-hands." Quinn sneered, curling her lip at the petite brunette.

"Or maybe you all don't." Rachel suggested, "I know, I know that there was some real connection when we were together and he was being totally himself." She gazed at Noah, willing him to back her up and to assure her that their time spent together hadn't been a lie.

"Sure babe," He murmured into her ear and she settled back into her chair, smiling softly.

He was well aware of the rest of the group's eyes boring into him, daring him to contradict his girlfriend's words, but he was busy battling with internal conflict. The only internal problems he'd ever had before was that bad burrito that had him hurling all afternoon once. This was something totally different.

He knew that Rachel was right, that on camp he could be himself and not worry what people thought, but in McKinley High he had built himself up a reputation as a bully and a stud and he wasn't sure if he was willing to risk that, just to be himself…

He swallowed and made a haste decision, turning and furrowing his brows at the rest of the group. He gave them his signature 'Puckzilla' smirk and winked sleazily at Mercedes before settling back in his chair. Maybe if he could concentrate hard enough he could be both at the same time, just making sure that he was 'Puck' when he needed to be, and Rachel's Noah when she needed him to be.

"Hey Rachel?" Quinn's nasally voice piped up and Puck swallowed. This definitely couldn't be good. "Since you and 'Noah' are _so _close," She continued, staring pointedly down at his girlfriend, "I suppose you know _all _each other's secrets?" She leaned forward and folded her arms, raising her eyebrows expectantly.

"Quinn, don't…" Finn murmured, pushing the blonde cheerleader back away from Rachel into her seat.

"I, er," Rachel furrowed her brow and glanced between Noah and Quinn.

"Did he tell you that two years ago I had his bastard child and gave our beautiful baby girl up for adoption?" She smirked at Rachel and watched her words sink in and the competent look on Rachel's face drop.

"Noah?" She whispered hopefully, willing it to be a lie.

But he couldn't even look at her; he simply stared at the floor, feeling only dread and guilt. Why did Quinn always have to ruin good things that were happening to him? He hadn't asked to get her pregnant, he'd even wanted to keep the child and raise her, but he'd listened to what Quinn wanted, and now she couldn't even do him the same favour. He shook his head softly and continued to glare at the floor.

Rachel nodded her head, as her eyes filled with tears, and muttered, "Excuse me," before dashing from the room, putting her head in her hands.

Puck sighed heavily and turned round to see a sneering Quinn, with a smug, satisfied grin plastered on her face.

"Whoops." She leered, with not one ounce of truth to her word.

Puck stood up angrily and just stopped himself from advancing towards Quinn and doing something he'd really regret.

"I have to go after Rachel," He said, "I'll see you guys later." He ran a hand through his Mohawk and made to leave the room.

"Wait," Santana stood up and said, "Let me." And she walked past Puck without glancing back.

"I'm coming with you." Finn followed after her and murmured to Puck, "Trust me man."

They found her curled up in a ball in the empty hallway, her head in her palms, knocking it softly against the locker behind her.

"Rachel?" Finn asked cautiously, kneeling down at her side.

Santana echoed his movements and carefully drew Rachel's hands from her face.

"Hey," She said, wiping tears cascading slowly from Rachel's eyes. "What are these for?"

"It's just," Rachel sniffed, "You think you know someone and it all turns out to be a lie because they've got all these secrets you never knew about."

"We've all got secrets Rachel," Finn said, sitting beside her, leaning up against the locker.

"He's right." Santana copied him and nodded along with him. "I'm a closet lesbian." She revealed offhandedly.

Finn's jaw dropped and he said, feeling slightly gobsmacked, "What?"

"Frankenteen, you tell anyone you're dead." Santana eyed him feistily and he nodded briskly.

"And apparently," Finn continued, running a cautious hand through his tousled hair, "I lost my virginity to a lesbian."

Rachel looked between the pair and said, "You two?"

"Don't remind us." They both replied in unison.

"But wait," Rachel furrowed her brow, looking at Finn, "How is that a secret?"

"Quinn doesn't know." He wrinkled his nose. "She thinks I'm saving myself for her, even though she lost hers to Puck two years ago."

Rachel sighed and said, "I still don't understand how you two revealing your secrets to me is supposed to make me feel better about Noah keeping _his _from me."

"We just mean that just because we've got secrets, it doesn't make us less of people." Santana explained as Finn nodded along in agreement. "I'm sure you've got secrets too Rach, who doesn't? But it doesn't change your person or your relationships. It just means there's so much more to find out somewhere down the line, that nothing you have is face value."

"She's right," Finn agreed, "I mean, when you told us that Puck was this soft guy who sang with you and protected you and was gentle and loving, none of us believed you at first, because the guy we knew was strong and resilient and sometimes scary. But watching you together made us realise that you can be two people and this 'Noah' character you've brought out is a good guy and we'd like to know him a little better." He gave half a laugh and looked at Santana for confirmation.

"Yep. Puck was an idiot, but I like this guy. You're good for him Berry, you make a good pair. I still stand by the fact that I think it's cute."

"You guys really think it'll be okay?"

"I know so," said Finn with a lopsided grin.

"Aww," Rachel smiled and put her arms around the pair, enveloping them in a three way hug.

She closed her eyes happily, feeling like there was now another reason for enjoying Lima. She had friends. Not that she'd ever admit it, but she had always been a bit awkward and even in New York she hadn't fit in greatly. But she told herself that it was lonely at the top and she didn't need friends. But sat here with one arm around beautiful Latina, Santana and the other arm around tall, gawky Finn, she felt that she may not need friends, but she wanted them and she was a lucky girl to have them finally.

"Woah, did I miss a threesome or something?" A voice penetrated her thoughts and she opened her eyes to see Puck standing there, his hands shoved awkwardly in his pockets, wearing a hopefully half smile.

"Sadly not Noah," said Rachel, standing up and stretching to full height.

"Listen, I'm sorry for not telling you," He began, staring deeply into her dark eyes.

"No, I'm sorry," Rachel interjected, "I didn't even give you a chance. I jumped to conclusions, and that was wrong of me. There's so much we've yet to find out about each other and I can't wait to dig deeper and find out everything."

"Alright then." Puck nodded and slung an arm around Rachel's shoulder, "Let's go," and they walked off down the corridor together.

"Hang on," He said, momentarily pausing. "Wait here."

He ran back to where Santana was sat with her head on Finn's shoulder watching the pair misty eyed.

"Thanks you guys, you really are…" He trailed off, the words catching in his throat.

"We know," said the pair in unison.

Santana stood up and ruffled his Mohawk, "We love ya Puckerman."

Finn joined her and nodded, "Now go get her."

"Later gators." Puck said, mock saluting before running off down the corridor to where Rachel was smiling and holding out her hand for him.

"Looks like our little boy's growing up," Santana said, smiling after him.

"Looks like it." Finn conceded watching as Puck said,

"You should probably know, I was in juvie last year because I stole an ATM. But it totally wasn't my fault."

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><p><strong>Hope you enjoyed :) RR!x**


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